Another event that is talked about in the present is the anniversary celebration of Alison and Charles. It is their twenty-fifth anniversary, and none of the children are excited about returning to Allersmead.  It is as if Allersmead brings back painful memories for each of them and returning home will cause these memories to resurface. At this point, all six children have separated themselves from each other and have created their individual lives except Paul. They have not kept in touch, and as Sandra enters the home, she remembers how she “often forgets about Roger. And Katie too. They were always on the fringes of her vision, back then, of little interest unless you needed them to make up the numbers in some game.” This shows how distant each of the siblings are and disconnected the family is from each other. Not only at this point in there lives, but as children too. As much as Alison tried to make her family perfect and flawless, there was nothing perfect about that family. 

Even as Alison continues to try and perfect her family by having everyone come home to celebrate her and Charles’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, there is still and underlying discomfort amongst everyone. As everyone attempts to make conversation, yet no one has anything in common to talk about. As they are preparing to eat dinner, Alison is in tears about Paul’s absence. When Paul finally arrives, it is revealed to the reader that Paul has an issue because he shows up “either drunk or stoned, or both.” As he sits down at the dinner table, he asked Alison which of the children is her favorite, and she simply laughs and changes the topic. It is clear that all of the other children think Paul is the favorite child. With his drug and alcohol addiction, he is still living at home. Alison is always concerned about him and defends his actions. This is an unexpected turn of the plot for the reader because it seems that when all of the other children left Allersmead, they began their own lives and created their own success. The reader now sees Paul as this black sheep in the family who causes trouble for everyone. This unexpected information changes the perception of the reader and dynamic of the story as the novel continues because each person is now developing their own identity and profile that slowly ties everything together.